Tank or trough construction.



s. cAsTLEv |/\i\1.v ANK ORTROUGH CONSTRUCTION.

APPLIQATION FILED MAY 8, i917.

, vPatented Jan.29,1918.

@TA'IE TENT @FF-@Gill SAMUEL CASTLEIVIAN, LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY,ASSIGNOB. TO LONG LIFE LUMBER COMPANY, INCORIORATED, OF LOUISVILLE,KENTUCKY, A CORPORATION OF KENTUCKY.

TANK OR TROUGI-I CONSTRUCTION.

specification of Letters Patent. Patented Jam 29,1918.

Application filed May 8, 1917. Serial No. 167,344. i

To .allfwlwfm it may Concern Bc it known that I, SAMUEL MAN, a citizenof the United States, residing at Louisville, in thecounty of Jeffersonand lState of Kentiicky,.have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Tanky constructions; and it .relates more ,particulai-ly.to a stock watering .tank or trough. of wood or the like, composed ofsections or parts .whichan Vbe readily fitted together, without theexercise of spccialskilkto provide a substantially watertightreceptacle,

'and capable alsoof being easily taken apart when 1t is. desired totransport the receptaclev in knocked down. condition.

For many purposes, and especially in connectioirwith militaryoperations, itis necessary to provide troughs for (watering horses,

cattle, etc., and to so construct such troughs Y thatrthey can easily betaken apart and` transported from place toplace. The separate lparts ormembers of which such ,a trough is built upshould be flat so that theycan be packed into small compass; and they should be of such character vthat no special skill is required to fit them together rapidly toprovidea practically water tight receptacle of solid andsubstantialconstruction.

So far as I am aware. nothoroughly satisfactory tank or trough answeringthis ldescription has heretofore been available; and Y Vit is aprincipal :purpose of the present in- A vention to supply this need. v Y

The invention will 4first be explained in connection with theaccompanying draw-` ings, which illustrate a typical embodiment Vof thebroad` principles involved, and'will thenbe more particularly pointedout in the claims Inthe drawings: I

Figure 1 shows .in elevational.perspective a woodenwatering troughAconstructed in accordance with the invention;kv

Fig. 2 is atransversesection on a larger` assembling the bottom and sideplanksto' *form tight joints.

T. CAsTLii- Referring to the drawings, the watering trough therein shownis constructed 0f wooden planks which have most desirably' beencreosoted for the double purpose of preventingthe wood from swelling byabsorbing nioisture,vand` 0f discouraging stock from cribbing thetrough. .The trough proper, designated generally by 10, is supported ona stout framework 11, andy all parts of the trough vrand its supportingframework are held together by means of threaded rods 0r bolts and lnutsasl shown, theuse of nails being undesirable. ,As showny in Fig. 1, thesides 12and bottom 13 of the trough areof tongue and grooveconstruction; and theends 14, and also the-stiffening partition 15,where a partition is employed,

may be similarly constructed. An opening 15`al 'in the vpartitionprovides communication between the two trough compartments. In theexample illustrated, the sides, bottom, ends and partition are Yeachmade up of three planks, each of the middle `planks 12a, 13a and 14a,having its oppositev edges grooved as i.indicated at. 16, to receixecooperating tongues proif'ided on the mating edges of the .adjacentplanks. For a purpose to-be presently explained, the inner faces of saidmiddle planks in the sides, ends and bot? tom, are slightly wider thanthe outer faces, the grooved.longitudinal cdgesof said iniddle planksbeing therefore cut on aslight bevel instead of square. rIhis is shownclearly in Figs 2 to Il, for the sides and bottom, and .these iiguresalso show in detail the manner ofholding the bottom and side plankstogether by means of bolts or tie rods 1,7. The under edge of thelowest'board of each side is best cut at a vslightly greater bevel thanwould be necessitated by the natural 'outward slope of the sides.Furthermore the under edge of the lowest board of each end is bestslightly beveled so that the inner faceof each vof such lowest endboards is-a trifle 'wide/ 1? than the outer face. y .The ends 14 being'generally similar in, construction to Athe sidesH 12, nthoughsubstantially vertical instead ofrlaring outwardly like the sides, itappears unnecessary to illustrate the end .construction in greaterdetail. l lThe halts 17 extend very loosely vthrough holes lis' boredthrough said planks from edge to edge. T hose joining the vplanks of thesides,

ends and partition extend also throughthe trough bottom, nuts 19 workingon the threaded upper ends of the bolts or rods and serving to securethe parts in position.

1n setting up the trough shown in the drawings the planks forming thebottom section are iirst assembled with the aid of the tie rods or bolts17, and nuts 19. This section when thus assembled assumes an arched orwarped form as shown in Fig. 4, due to the beveled edges of the middleplank 18". The bottom is now laid convex side up on the supportingframework, resting directly on cross-pieces 11a thereof, and the end,partition, and side sections are placed in position on the bottom, thebolts of these sections extending through the bottom and through members11a. Horizontal tie rods Q0, which may be substantially similar to rods17, and which cooperate with exterior [iat bearing plates 21 and angularpieces QQ, which latter may simply be pieces of angle iron, arepositioned just outside of each end 14, and serve to hold the sidesections in place. For the same purpose additional horizontal tie rods23 are provided adjacent the partition 15. Then the trough sections arepreliminarily assembled, as described, the side and end sections, aswell as the bottom section, naturally assume an inwardly convex contourby reason of the described method of beveling the edges of certain oftheir component planks. 1f now the outer faces of the end sections begiven a sharp blow, the end sections flatten out.

and slip into mortises 24 provided in the inner faces of side sectionsnear their ends. The nuts, on all the tie rods may now be fullytightened up, whereupon the rectilinear lower edges of the ends andpartition are drawn'down upon the bottom section so as to iiatten thelatter out into the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2 and in dotted linesin Fig. 4. Similarly, the side sections are drawn tightly against therectilinear lateral edges of the ends and partition, the side sectionsbeing thus finally flattened out as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and indotted linesin Fig. 8.

1t Ywill be noted that the effect of fiattening out the side and bottomsections from the arched position shown in full lines in Figs. 3 and iis to develop very intense localized pressure along the inner portion ofthe joints betweenthe middle planks and the planks adjoining them, thussealing the joints. The saine thing is of course true for the endsections. A similar effect is produced where the beveled lower edges ofthe side and end sections abut against the bottom. 0n the other hand,the outer portions of the Vjoints are under much less pressure, and mayeven be slightly opened as .indicated at Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the extent ofsuch opening being more or less exaggerated in the drawings for purposesof exnase-pre planation. The flattening out of the sections from theiroriginal convex or warped position is evidently similar in effect to theaction of a powerful toggle, in insuring tight joints. The describedtongue and groove construction is especially useful in this connectionbecause it not only facilitates properly matching up the planks, but italso maintains them in accurate registry at all times, insuring thedevelopment of sealing pressure at the desired points.

In order to avoid any mistake in putting the trough together hurriedly,it is of advantage to leave the outer faces of the planks rough and toplane the inner faces smooth; but this is not essential, of course.

Various changes in details of construction can be made without departingfrom the spirit of the invention, changes are contemplated in theappended and suoli claims. Moreover, it is not intended to limit Y theinvention to a container in which all the sections or walls areconstructed in the manner above described, although such a constructionis most desirable. Evidently the beneits of the invention can berealized to some extent where less than all the sections are of thecharacter herein disclosed. 1t is to be noted also that although, in thespecific example here given, the sealing pressure is developedsubstantially at thev inner face of each section, nevertheless the component planks may be beveled in a manner opposite to that aboveprescribed so that the sealing pressure may be developed adjacent theouter faces of the sections. IThis latter method of construction is notordinarily so desirable as that illustrated in the drawings.

Itis evident that assembling means other` i prising substantially vplaneside walls, ends,

and bottom with substantiallyV rectilinear edges` said side walls andbottom being composed of planks, having their abutting edges so formedthat when matched the planks tend to lie in different planes, assemblingmeans holding the bottom planks together, assembling means holding theside wall planks together and to the bottom, and means drawing thetrough ends, side walls and bottom together in such manner that saidside walls and bottom are maintained substantially plane against theopposing tendency of said assembling means, whereby tight joints aresecured.

3. A collapsible watering trough comprising side walls, ends, andbottom, said side walls and bottom each consisting of a plurality ofplanks fitted together by tongues and grooves, at least one of saidplanks having its edges beveled so that the planks tend to lie indifferent planes, bolts extending loosely through each set of plan-ksand drawing them together, and means drawing said side walls, ends andbot-tom together in such manner as to maintain them substantially planeand water-tight.

al.. A container consisting of a plurality of sections, at least one ofsaid sections comprising a plurality of fiat members assembled inedge-to-edge engagement, the joints between said members being of suchcharacter that such sec-tion tends naturally to assume a warped contour,securing means preventing said members from separating but permittinglimited relative transverse movement thereof, and means arranged to holdsaid section in proper relation'to the other container sections and tofla-tten said section out against the opposing tendency of said securingmeans, thereby producing a concentrated pressure or pinch over alocalized portion of each of said joints.

5. In a container a Wall comprising a plurality of planks arranged edgetoedge and securing means for holding them together, the plank edgesbeing so formed that said wall tends to warp under the action of saidsecuring means, and `means resisting such warping, whereby tight jointsbetween said planks are attained.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aiiiX my signature.

SAMUEL T. CASTLEMAN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents Washington, D. G.

